Henry Paul established himself as an instant favourite with a 28-point haul as
Gloucester romped to victory in the Parker Pen European Shield.
The runaway victory provided the New Zealand rugby league superstar with
England rugby union aspirations with the perfect stage to showcase his undoubted
talents as Gloucester over-ran Welsh part-timers Caerphilly.
Watched by England's backs coach Brian Ashton, Paul, who is expected to be
fast-tracked into Clive Woodward's national squad, made it a debut to remember
with a brilliant try, a penalty and 10 conversions from 15 attempts.
His 69th minute try, the climax of an electric 40-metre diagonal run which
split the Caerphilly defence wide open brought the biggest cheer of an afternoon
which began with Paul making his mark with his first touch of the ball as he
landed a penalty just a metre inside the opposition half after only two minutes
and 14 seconds.
And although Paul will need to face tougher opposition to see his defensive
capabilities tested, he looked what he has proved in the 13-a-side game - a
class act.
The talk is that England are looking at giving him his international bow in
next month's international against Romania - who recently conceded 80 points
against Wales - and on this showing it would be the ideal opportunity to
integrate him into the team.
Paul certainly looked the part as a union player.
His positioning was spot on, he handled the ball well in the backs' moves and
his tactical kicking was superb, including one 60m kick from inside his own
half.
Paul, the ultimate team player in league with Bradford, also showed his
unselfish side in the first half when he passed up the chance of his opening try
for Gloucester to send in better-placed full back Jon Goodridge when he could
almost certainly have scored himself.
The Zurich Premiership side never looked back after Paul booted them into
their early lead.
Hard-running flanker James Forrester and left-winger James Simpson-Daniel both
went in for hat-tricks of tries with influential number eight and stand-in
skipper Jake Bower touching down twice before retiring from the action after an
hour.
Goodridge, right winger Daren O'Leary, Paul's centre partner Terry Fanolua,
flanker Koli Sewau, lock Mark Cornwell and Italian international prop Federico
Pucciariello, in the final minute, all added further tries as the Gloucester
forwards had a field day in the closing stages.
Caerphilly responded with second half consolation tries from centre Holo
Taufahema and substitute Andrew Jacobs, both converted by fly-half Luke
Richards, as Gloucester briefly took their eye off their defensive
responsibilities.
Teams:
Gloucester: Goodridge, O'Leary, Fanolua, Paul,
Simpson-Daniel,
Gomarsall, Stuart-Smith, Woodman, Azam, Pucciarello, Cornwell,
Pearce, Sewabu, Forrester, Boer.
Replacements: Deacon for Woodman (47), Fortey for Azam (64),
Paramore for Boer (64).
Not Used: Mercier, Ewens, Stoica, Fidler.
Tries: Fanolua, Simpson-Daniel 3, Goodridge,
O'Leary, Boer 2, Forrester 3, Sewabu, Paul, Cornwell,
Pucciarello.
Cons: Paul 10.
Pens: Paul.
Caerphilly: J. Thomas, Lewis,
Taufahema, Hawkins, Morris,
Richards, Chiltern, A. Jones, Hughes, G. Thomas, N. Watkins,
N. Jones, D. Davies, G. Jones, B. Watkins.
Replacements: Williams for Morris (79),
Tuipulotu for Chiltern (47), Marston for A. Jones (67),
Greenslade-Jones for Hughes (67), Jacobs for G. Thomas (67),
Buckingham for N. Jones (67), Bolton for B. Watkins (65).
Tries: Taufahema, Jacobs.
Cons: Richards 2.
Att: 7,336
Ref: D Dartigeas (France).
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